CANTERBURY
MUSIC-HALL, London, in the Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth. The first
of the great MUSIC-HALLS, it was erected by Charles
MORTON in 1852 on the site
of an old skittle-alley adjacent to his Canterbury Tavern, and paid
for out of the profits on drink made during free entertainment formerly
offered there.

Right - A Canterbury programme from July 1913 - Courtesy
Peter Charlton

The Canterbury Hall, as it was originally called, proved
so popular that in 1854 Morton
was able to replace it by the larger New Canterbury Music-Hall, which
had a large platform stage and accommodation for 1,500 people. By 1867,
when Morton left to work elsewhere, the earlier programmes of light
music and ballad singing had been dropped and comedy predominated.

Far Right - A Poster with Arthur
Lloyd on the Bill for a Benefit performance for A. Thioden at The
Canterbury on Thursday the 26th of March 1885.Click to Enlarge the Poster
and read a review of the Benefit.

In 1876 the building
was reconstructed as a three-tier theatre, its bar being for many years
the favourite rendezvous of music-hall performers. The Canterbury was
well patronized by Royalty, being visited regularly by the Prince of
Wales (later Edward VII), the Duke of Cambridge, and the Duke and Duchess
of Teck. When the popularity of the 'halls' began to decline, drastic
reductions in the price of seats brought audiences back for a while;
but the heyday of the music-hall had long been over before the Canterbury
was destroyed by bombing in 1942.

Left
- A piece of Mosaic from the proscenium arch of the Canterbury Music
Hall - Courtesy Tony Craig who says 'A very good family friend, Al Fuller,
went down with a hammer & chisel and hacked off a couple of chunks
many years ago, when what was left of the Theatre was open to the elements.
He kept one piece, and gave the other piece to my Mom (Jessie Jewel).
Al... when he was younger, took over Ronnie Tates' part, when Ronnie
continued to do the acts of his Father... Harry
Tate, Ronnie then called himself Harry Tate Jr. (hope that all makes
sense!), Later Al formed a high energy comedy singing & dancing
act with Jeanette (who he married) as Al Fuller & Jeanette.

Charles
Morton was inspired by his enjoyment as a patron of Evans’s
to start up a small ‘harmonic meeting’ in a large back room of the Canterbury
Arms, Westminster
Bridge Road. There was no admission charge, and a few professional
paid singers performed alongside amateurs. Despite the fact that the
‘harmonic meeting’ was on Saturdays only, the early success of this
venture – in the sale of drinks and food it encouraged – prompted Morton
to build a larger hall. At the back of the Canterbury was an old skittle
alley, a relic of the rural past of the area now swamped by the outgrowth
of London. The new hall was up within a year, and seated 700 people.
It had no stage but simply a platform for performers. Morton recreated
some of the atmosphere of Evans’s, paying some of the stars unprecedentedly
high fees. It was not all vulgar fare, but included selections from
opera, and the first performances of Offenbach in this country. Morton
re-built again – in one weekend. Anxious not to lose custom, he had
the new hall built over the old one without stopping the performances.
One Saturday evening the skittle alley hall was demolished, and a new
hall opened on the Monday. Morton had added a picture gallery which
Punch, the satirical magazine, called ‘The Royal Academy Over The Water’.

THE
CANTERBURY
From 'The Sketch' of May 1879

The
Canterbury occupies a peculiar position. Whatever it may be it is
neither regarded as a theatre nor a music hall. It is, in fact, a
melange of the Aleazar, the Eldorado, and the London Oxford.
A music hall to the British workman, who smokes his pipe and drinks
his beer while listening to the humours of Arthur
Lloyd and other star comiques. A pleasant lounge to the young
man with the crush, crutch and toothpick, who would be bored to death
by any particular dramatic entertainment. To one indeed, the Canterbury
offers many attractions.If he does not wish to weary himself by going
through the severe work of sitting through the performance, he has
the alternative of smoking a cigarette in the pretiest saloon in London.
If he wishes to listen to Mr. Frewin's orchestra without tiring his
sight by looking over the footlights, the fauteuils are so comfortable
that he can close his eyes and doze at his ease.

On Wednesday evening last-Derby night the Canterbury programme was
more than usually attractive. The overture was Aubert's DominoNoir.
Then Miss Emily Kean and Mr. Mills for a brief while amused the audience.
To them succeeded our old favourite, Arthur
Lloyd, the most deservedly popular of comic singers. There is
a finesse about Arthur Lloyd's fun that is carefully studied, and
it is never too broad. A certain amount of slang and double entendre
a comic singer is obliged to indulge in, or he will hardly hit the
taste of his audience. Yet, of most music-hall favourites, Arthur
Lloyd is least given to attempts to win ill-merited applause by questionable
methods.

But, at present, the chief and real attraction of the Canterbury
programme is the carefully arranged and charmingly mounted ballet
of Pat in Paradise. Miss Nelly Power, whose name has been so long
associated with " the Hall over the water " that it would
hardly seem the Canterbury at all if her name were not displayed upon
the posters, sustains the part of Larry O'Leary with all that fun
and vivacity which have invariably distinguished her among leading
actresses of burlesque. The songs that fall to her share are delivered
with the most dainty archness, and her dancing is as spirited as it
is graceful. Larry finds a most fairy-like little Nora in Miss jonghmans.
But the interest in the ballet commences with the Enchanted Scene
in the Fairy Dell, when Erina, Kevin, and Shamroc accompanied by their
fairy, court, appear under the lime-light.
By a most careful contrivance the powerful rays of the electric lamp
are tinted with divers hues, and flash across the stage in different
directions, so that while from the right falls a vivid blaze of blue,
from the left streams an equally dazzling flood of green. The effect
is most bizarre and striking, and reflects the highest credit upon
Mr. Sabin, the optician and electrician of the establishment. The
dancing in the ballet is admirable. Mlle. Ada, the fair premiere danseuse
has all the grace and marked finish of style of Mlle Gillert. Although
somewhat apt to linger over each pose, she is yet never absolutely
at rest, and her style is full of memories of the ballet in its older
and better days She attempts no wonders, but thoroughly deserves the
credit of never failing in what she does attempt. Miss Phyllis Broughton
as Kevin, King of the Fairies, dances with much spirit, and is evidently
a favourite with Mr. Villiers' audience. The setting of the ballet
is as good as it can be, and the harmonies of colour effected by the
aid of the variegated limelight
are most artistic.

In the second ballet, Etherca, is introduced a new and Startling
effect. Mlle Ariel, the danscuse, floats like a bird through the air,
now mounting from the stage to the flies, now again descending, and
now, crossing from right to left, or left to right, apparently without
the least exertion. That mechanical assistance is somehow rendered
to this most fascinating lady must be obvious; but the strongest field-glass
fails to detect either rope or wire, and for the present, at any rate,
the flight of Ariel is a "quaint apparition," the mystery
of which is unsolved. With two such ballets, an evening can be very
pleasantly passed. Indeed, the Canterbury is one of the pleasantest
of our London lounges. The sliding roof preserves the atmosphere fresh,
cool, and pleasant. The fauteuils ale Most comfortable The attendance
is all that could, be wished. What better praise can one bestow upon
a music-hall than to say that in it the visitor is cornpletely at
his ease.

A
description of the new hall is given in J. E. Richie’s contemporary
survey of the capital’s amusements, 'The Night Side Of London'

...A
well-lighted entrance attached to a public house indicates that we have
reached our destination. We proceed up a few stairs lined with handsome
engravings, to a bar, where we pay sixpence if we take a seat in the
body of the hall, and ninepence if we ascend into the gallery. We make
our way leisurely along the floor of the hall, which is well lighted,
and capable of holding 1,500 people. A balcony extends round the room
in the form of a horse-shoe. At the opposite end to that at which we
enter is a platform, on which are placed a grand piano and a harmonium
on which the performers play in the intervals when the previous singers
have left the stage. The chairman sits just beneath them. It is dull
work for him, but there he must sit drinking and smoking cigars from
seven to twelve o’clock. The room is crowded, and almost every gentleman
has a pipe or cigar in his mouth. Evidently the majority present are
respectable mechanics or small tradesmen with their wives and daughters
and sweethearts. Now and then you see a midshipman, or a few fast clerks
and warehousemen. Everyone is smoking, and everyone has a glass before
him; but the class that come here are economical and chiefly confine
themselves to pipes and porter.

Right - A Nostalgia Postcard from 1951. Courtesy Mr. John Moffatt.
Back of card reads: 'Canterbury Music Hall, 1912 A large audience attend
the last performance. The popularity of the music halls never recovered
from the First World War and the rise of the cinema. Some music halls
operated part-time as cinemas, but gradually they were converted to
cinemas and the great live music hall tradition disappeared altogether.'

...At
this time new music halls, not necessarily on the lines of the Canterbury,
were springing up on the sites of old singing saloons in many parts
of London. The entertainment was a moveable feast – the same stars could
do the rounds – and it was in the comfort and lavishness of the surroundings
that the new impresarios competed. They came to draw more and more of
their profits from the entrance fee, though the sale of drink and food
remained important and was one reason why music halls were generally
more profitable – and thus attracted greater investment – than theatres.